ng took counsel where
he should find a wife. Said one of his counsellors, "I know a wife that
will suit thee well, and she is the wife of King Doged." And they
resolved to go to seek her; and they slew the king, and brought away his
wife and one daughter that she had along with her. And they conquered
the king's lands.

On a certain day as the lady walked abroad, she came to the house of an
old crone that dwelt in the town, and that had no tooth in her head. And
the queen said to her, "Old woman, tell me that which I shall ask thee,
for the love of Heaven. Where are the children of the man who has
carried me away by violence?" Said the crone, "He has not children."
Said the queen, "Woe is me, that I should have come to one who is
childless!" Then said the hag, "Thou needest not lament on account of
that, for there is a prediction that he shall have an heir by thee, and
by none other. Moreover, be not sorrowful, for he has one son."

The lady returned home with joy, and she asked her consort, "Wherefore
hast thou concealed thy children from me?" The king said, "I will do so
no longer." And he sent messengers for his son, and he was brought to
the Court. His stepmother said unto him, "It were well for thee to have
a wife, and I have a daughter who is sought of every man of renown in the
world." "I am not yet of an age to wed," answered the youth. Then said
she unto him, "I declare to thee, that it is thy destiny not to be suited
with a wife until thou obtain Olwen, the daughter of Yspaddaden Penkawr."
And the youth blushed, and the love of the maiden diffused itself through
all his frame, although he had never seen her. And his father enquired
of him, "What has come over thee, my son, and what aileth thee?" "My
stepmother has declared to me, that I shall never have a wife until I
obtain Olwen, the daughter of Yspaddaden Penkawr." "That will be easy
for thee," answered his father. "Arthur is thy cousin. Go, therefore,
unto Arthur, to cut thy hair, and ask this of him as a boon."

{Picture: p66.jpg}

And the youth pricked forth upon a steed with head dappled grey, of four
winters old, firm of limb, with shell-formed hoofs, having a bridle of
linked gold on his head, and upon him a saddle of costly gold. And in
the youth's hand were two spears of silver, sharp, well-tempered, headed
with steel, three ells in length, of an edge to wound the wind, and cause
blood to flow, and swifter than the fall {66} of